Mk3 V8 build

Caprifan Rob · Post by **Caprifan Rob** » Sun Nov 11, 2018 9:38 pm

Fantastic build, really impressed with your work sir

Please keep the updates coming.

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Sat Nov 24, 2018 3:47 am

A bit more done, I wasn’t happy with the Nissan radiator that was in there, I came to the conclusion that it was all a bit shit, so I got a V8 alloy rad, and mucked around with it, but came to the conclusion that it wanted to go right where I’d welded in a price of rollcage tubing to stiffen up the front chassis rails. So I cut that out, got a piece of channel folded up to fit between the rails, and the bottom of the radiator will sit in that on some alloy pegs with rubber isolators. Then I had to build some gussets to put some strength into it. The radiator is away at the moment with my friendly alloy guy who will make shroud for it, and mounts to take the SPAL fan that I got in. Then I still need to figure out how to mount the top of it. While it’s away, I mounted the jaz crankcase breathers that vent the rocker covers. Engine bay is starting to look busy!

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Sat Nov 24, 2018 4:33 am

Oh, a few photos for you to check out....

320216F2-3400-4DAF-9E01-A560E97E3CEF by paul nielson, on Flickr

074DE959-987C-4989-A3D4-1158E4515A5E by paul nielson, on Flickr

Post by **Not_Anumber** » Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:28 pm

I like the oil breather catch tanks for each bank of cylinders, practical and visually good too.

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 7:04 am

Thanks, always nice to get feedback mate! You might not appreciate the latest choice though, coz things have changed

So I’ve made up a new shroud out of Ali, and mounted the spal fan to it using rivnuts.

5ECFAC3E-CBF6-43C5-8073-23845456AE00 by paul nielson, on Flickr

Also welded some pegs on the bottom for the rubber mounts to sit into

F15401D8-3500-4765-9700-B023E3CE20BE by paul nielson, on Flickr

And bolted the whole thing together with a couple of dabs of loctite to stop it coming apart.

3C4D89DB-B98B-4098-B649-4FDA5759F9B8 by paul nielson, on Flickr

And then mocked it up on the crossmember to see how it all looks.

A4F6B1DD-F40A-4420-B17B-3BF02A625E35 by paul nielson, on Flickr

And you’ll notice that I’ve moved the catch cans to one side, this was because I couldn’t get the lhs one to sit properly against the inner guard, and I also need room for the radiator overflow bottle on the lhs. I’ll knock that one up out of ali too I think.

4A7C5386-601F-4F71-BABE-CFCB7BCD692C by paul nielson, on Flickr

Still need to change a fitting and get some new hose, I’m not a fan of the blue.

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Fri Dec 07, 2018 7:08 am

Gratuitous full frontal nudity shot

4F7EE7C2-647A-4506-B720-E7107345A601 by paul nielson, on Flickr

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 8:35 am

Progress again, hoses sorted, and electric water pump mocked up. Changed the blue hoses to black push lock ones.

D0395943-D236-418B-B57F-FAB86FF6B84D by paul nielson, on Flickr

4365750A-719D-4525-8E5E-3D49C474F4FE by paul nielson, on Flickr

64CBE356-D84B-4DC1-AB98-54F79857153B by paul nielson, on Flickr

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 8:42 am

A bit of work off the car now, if you have a good memory it has brembo brakes off an evo x on it, but they were looking pretty sad and discoloured, plus I didn’t know the condition of them internally, so I stripped them ready for powdercoat and a refurb. Funny, even though they looked pretty scruffy, they were mint inside, I’m guessing they’d been done sometime in their life, doesn’t matter, a re coat and a new seal kit will make them look good and give me peace of mind that they’ll do the job when I stand on the middle pedal.

B5914379-689C-461B-9461-BD93FE3591D5 by paul nielson, on Flickr

Obviously this is the before pic, you’ll have to wait till after Christmas for the “after” photo.

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 9:07 am

And the other thing I’ve been playing with are the shocks. For those of you playing at home, you’ll remember that the front suspension is out of a FC Mazda RX7. I really wanted bilstein shocks all round, but they don’t make an off the shelf coil over to suit the Mazda. I priced up custom shocks made to suit, but they wanted 2grand fr them! While I don’t mind spending some money on this thing, 2k is just too much. So I burnt quite a few hours making my own. In which time I could have made 2 grand to buy the shocks, but that’s beside the point!
So I had a customer come in with a BP legacy that have factory bilsteins in them, he wanted them replaced as they were leaking, so they were the perfect start. I cut off the spring platforms and the shock clevis and then gave them to my machine shop to machine the welds off completely so they are just the tubes. Then I cut the bottoms off the old Mazda shocks where they are welded onto the tubes, and pressed them off the shafts. I then sandblasted them to clean all the paint and rust off, then pressed them onto the prepped bilstein tubes. The threaded tubes slide over, and will be welded on. The law here is a bit OTT as they need to be fully welded top and bottom, TIG too, and then crack tested with a report for the engineer. Bit crazy when factory and aftermarket shocks are MIG welded, and only 20mm long tack welds too. Oh well, you can’t fight it, might as well get on with it

7A050B3E-76ED-4C4C-BC12-47DAFCE8CAC7 by paul nielson, on Flickr

28CE8D46-C0DC-440B-B349-7B5B4EDF2784 by paul nielson, on Flickr

That may or may not be a Heineken in the background for added inspiration....

hessu75 · Post by **hessu75** » Sat Dec 22, 2018 3:01 pm

Great build mate!

About those push on an-fittings.
I am having trouble with my Capri's turbos extra oil cooler fittings.
The screw on type an-fittings I use atm, one is leaking. Tightening does not help.

Will these push on type fittings handle the oil pumps pressure ok? Should be OK.

Just had to ask.

Have a great x-mas holidays and greets from snowy Finland!

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:49 am

As long as you’ve got the right AN fittings, push lock hose will hold the pressure fine. I didn’t need it on my build as it’s atmospheric pressure only, but they look cool, so had to have them

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Fri Dec 28, 2018 4:50 am

Oh merry Christmas to you too from sunny Ruakaka in northland, New Zealand!

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Fri Mar 15, 2019 6:28 pm

Some more progress, albeit pretty slow at the moment, work, kids, and mountain biking have taken up a fair bit of my time lately.. so I’ve made a beam that goes across the front of the chassis rails, it’s well braced, and made out of 3 mm channel, so should hold it all nicely. I’ve also welded some captive nuts on the bottom to hold the skid plate that I’ll eventually put under it for when we go rallying. Then painted it all, so it looks like I meant to build it that way!

4B87DFE7-7304-40E0-A0E9-F288EE2FED3D by paul nielson, on Flickr

B9E9B342-18AB-4A58-B7A0-6F83B02156AF by paul nielson, on Flickr

Also stripped the calipers and sent them out for powder coating, I’ve rebuilt them with new seal kits and hardware, also made up new steel fluid transfer lines and installed new bolts as well. The powder coat guys even had new Brembo stickers, which was a nice touch I thought.

5502284C-3DDE-419C-870C-2C09BD60599F by paul nielson, on Flickr

4D942442-9241-44D9-AE78-91D0AD513620 by paul nielson, on Flickr

Excuse the safety Jandals in the background, taken after hours I promise!

Post by **D366Y** » Sat Mar 16, 2019 9:57 am

Loving the sandals!

Great work coming along, those callipers look sweet as!

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:13 pm

Three steps back, four forward. Power steering rack was seizing up and leaking, so had to pull the front crossmember back out and remove the rack. I got another second hand one, but did the smart thing and sent it to the steering guys to get checked over first, it came back with a clean bill of health, and while it was away I had to do a slight mod to the crossmember to make a bit more clearance for the steering shaft for my engineer, so it all worked out for the best. But while I was moving the car around on s jack,it slipped off and the engine fell down onto the harmonic balancer on top of the trolley jack, punching a hole in the front of the sump. Not happy. I thought I might have bent the crank as all the weight fell onto the balancer, and if that had happened I think I would have shelved the whole thing and stuck it back in the cornor with a cover on it. But luckily for all concerned, it was fine. So I took a risk and welded it up while it was still on the engine, and I think I got away with it. So rack, crossmember, mounts are all back in the car, another set of lower springs in the front as it sat too high, new rack ends and rack boots fitted, all is ok with the world once again.

F8763272-204C-4163-A42E-2B70338924C0 by paul nielson, on Flickr

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 11:38 pm

A75DA5EB-6967-4454-8BAB-B6B1F3123F1D by paul nielson, on Flickr

Caprifan Rob · Post by **Caprifan Rob** » Sat Apr 13, 2019 8:56 pm

That is looking incredible already, even though it's a fair way off. Fantastic work so far. Choice of wheels, kit & stance look spot on. Nice work. Glad your misshap with the Jack wasn't too serious.

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Mon May 06, 2019 10:17 am

Thanks Rob, glad someone out there is reading this stuff. I mainly did it to keep track of where I’ve been, and looking back it’s been a long journey! This car was meant to be a quick build with a Lexus v8, R154 box and cheap cage while my real race car was being repaired, turns out that one was too hard, and this became the new car, don’t know if I’d have done it that way if I’d known it was going to take 9 years to get to this stage....

Slight progress today, got all the power steering lines hooked up, filled the reservoir and powered it up, steering works a treat, really pleased with that decision. Started to fit the rear fuel cell, photos to come tomorrow of that progress.

Post by **Jasonmarie** » Mon May 06, 2019 11:38 am

I have been watching and it’s Amazing work your doing . When do you hope to have her completed ?

V8boss · Post by **V8boss** » Tue May 07, 2019 9:39 am

Thanks mate, I say Christmas, but I don’t specify which year.....
Although I am keen to race it at a special race meeting early next year at Hampton Downs, one of our local tracks, but only if I get it running well and get some solid testing in first, I don’t want to take a fresh build out on the track for the first time with a whole heap of other guys. Seen it before, ends in tears.

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